Paper-feeding machine.



T. C. DEXTER.

PAPER. FEEDING MACHINE.

-APPLIUATIONHLBD 11211111. 1911.

Patented May 26, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1..

T. c. DEXTER.-

PAPER PEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED II}B.1lI 1911.

Patented May 26, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l /Jfmwww v TI4 U. DEXTER. PAPER FBEDING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED 11:11.11, 1911.

Patented May 26, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

T. G. DEXTER. PAPER FBBDING MACHINE. APPLIUATION FILED 153.11, 1911.

Patented May 26, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

" UTED STATE-@Enr carica TALBOT c. DEXTER, or Paaren-Anm, NEW Yom asientan 'T'opaairnia romana comANY, or raam. iiivnit, NEW Yozaxf, a' CORPORATION" or' New Tonie PAPEBAFEEDING ivi-aeii'mi,

Specification of Letters'Patent. Application nea February i1, i'si'i'. semi Nt. osgri''.

Patentes May 2e, i914.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, TALBOT C. DEXTER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pearl River, in the county of Rockland and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper- Feedin-g Machines, of which the following is a `full and clear specification. A

The recent development and extensive introductionof rapidlyopera'ting rotary printing presses has necessitated material changes in the construction and operation of automatic paper feeding' machineryz particularly with regard toV correcting' the irregularities in position of the successive sheets of a pile devices in the feeding machine b' whichthe successivel sheets werev delivere from the y pile to the conveyer frame in 'fairlystrai'ght ened condition. This practiceis no longer, possible when feeding sheets' to the rapid: rotary press for 'the reason that the sheets have ,to be moved s ov r'spidly'that there is not suicient time toe' lectively" ystraighten them upon the' c'onveye'r frame'. l

in the practical conditions-iii' the' art has necessitated a sini' lication of the auto"- inatic feeding mac ,'e' with a" view teincreasing its speed of operation andtheelimi nation ofthe old forms of sheet straightenl ing devices'. Thisr'e'organization'ofl printi' f ing and feeding mechanism notalter the necessity for some reliable`-n'ieans tofinsure the straightening or sq'uarin ofthe sheets prior to their arrival at t e press ga'ges, since it is practically impossible, for'.

obvious reasons, toorel upon the movement' `of the sheet against te" gagesto effect' the sfpiai'in of the sheet. Infact the' movement o the s ee'ts is so rapid' over the' conveyer frame that an efective'lslow down'vme'chal nism must beiem'ployed to prevent' the rebound ofgthe sheets from' the 'ags' or' the'1 injury of the leading edgejoft e sheets by' This change' l,

toinaticall' thrown out of -a`ction. Suitable L guidingp ates or ingers'a're arranged above and' vvbel'ow'the plane pf feed of'sleetsto confine' ,the sheets' at' theii" leadingl edge adthe gages. These diiiculties are overcome by my present ,invention by which the successive sheets fed from the pile of an=auto matic feeding'm'achi'e arev accurately squared and straightened ju's'ty prior to the delivery of the sheets from the: feeding.' machine to the' conveyein This sheet straightening operationl can be accomplished in any feeding machine having a simple feeding-oil ,device with a regular' fee'din stroke, by providing, at the delivery end o the'machine, suitable auxiliary frictiona'l feeding devices adapted to receiv'e the leading edgeI of the sheets ad# van'ced from the pile bythe feeding-off Idevices and give the sheets a delicate forward4 feeding iir'ipuls'e" to bring'4 them in contact with suitable sheet straightening gages which are presented across the pathof the sheet's`. These straightening gages and cooperating auxiliary4 feeding devices are arranged' upo'nopposite of the central longitudinalfpl-'aii'e'of the machine and the engagement of the'auxiliar" feedin' :devices with' the' sheets i's so' del'i'ca` e that t `e sheets will be' accurately'- moved int'o contact with jthe straightening gages but will not be i11-v ju'iiously crowded 'against the ages'. The x result of this construction will 'e'the effec y ,tive'strai'ghtening' of the sheets against the 'ga es', since each auxilia `on' 'y moves` the'l sheet suiy the' edge' in`A fr'o'nt'of it a' 'ainst one ofthegages and then operates' un feeding device cient'ly to bring a'cent tothe' gagefs and prevent thin' from I ition tothe' a'uiiliary feed- ,iing' devices and straightening gages', I emuckling'. In ad ploy in the same zone' the' usua r'op roller :delivery mechanism, and suitable' operating `mechanism therefor' so' arranged that when the' straightening gagesA andv auxiliary dexvices are in action' the drop rollers a're held lout of action and when' thev drop rollers are operated to deliver a'- sheet the straightening gages and auxiliary feed-ing devices are automatically thrown out oflaction.l The best vresults' are obtained by arranging the auxil- ,iary frictional' feeding' devices' as close 'as possible to the'straigh'tenlng gages. `In pr'a'c- 1 erably fait tice the aumliary feedingdev/ices are prefin the form of frictional rollersJ althou h feed belts and rollers can sometimes be e ectively employed.

In order that my invention may be fully understood I will lfirst describe the same,

with reference to the accompanying drawings and afterward point out the novelty more particularly in the annexed claims.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a detail front elevation, partly broken away, of an automatic paper feeding machine embodying my -improvements. Fig. 2 is a detail, vertical,

longitudinal sectional view of the same, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asimilar View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail plan viewof part pile gaging plates or. bars.

A transverse shaft 5 is suitably journaled inthe side frames land 2 and extends transversely of the machine in front of the pile gages 3. This shaft 5 carries a series of main under feed rollers 10, the shaft 5 being continuously driven by any suitable gearing such as illustrated in thev drawings. Cooperating with two offthe main under feed y rollers 10 upon opposite sides of the central longitudinal lane of the machine are the usual drop rollers 15, freely journaled upon the rear ends of rock arms 16 mounted upon a rock shaft 17 which is journaled at its ends in the .side frames 1 and 2 and carries adjacent to one end a 'rear crank arm 18, pivoted at 19 to pitman 20 formed with a yokesha ed upper end 2l. The main cam shaft of the machine is indicated at 25. This shaft carries a controlling cam 22 ,with

which engages an anti-friction roller 23V journaled upon the pitman 20. A spring actuated rod 24 engages a forward-crank arm 182", project-ing from rock shaft 17 to throw the drop roller 15 downwardly under the control of the cam 22.

30 is a rock shaft journaled in the side frames 1 and 2 and extending transversely ofthe machine above the pile of sheets. This vrock shaft 30 has motion imparted to it by any suitable means (not shown), and supports and actuates the feeding-off devices which may be of any suitable construction.

In the'drawings I have shown a feeding-off device of the general construction covered by Patent No.' 768,979, dated August 30th,

i904, in which a depending rock arm incassa mounted upon its lower endthe''ictionat feeding-od fin ers 32. The particular conunder feed rollers 10 upon opposite sides of the central longitudinal plane of the machine,

upwardly proj ectingibracket arms 41,' which are Asupported by the transverse tie bolt 42. These guide plates 40 have' their rear ends curved downwardly to bring them slightly within the periphery of the main under feed wheels 10. Above the lower guide plates 40 I arrange similar curved guide plates 45 which are supported upon the depending bracket arms 46 mounted upon the transverse tie bolt 47. The rear ends of these upper guide plates 45' are curved upwardly and form withv the lower guide plates a gradually contracting throat into which the successive sheets are oil devices.-

50 is an auxiliary feed shaft extending transversely of the machine in front' of the main under feed shaft 'and journaled at its ends in the bracket arms 51 extending up from and supported by tie bolt 42. This auxiliary feed' shaft 50 carries adjacent to and in the same zone as the main under feed vI mountI curved guide plates 40 upon thepassed by the feedingl rollers 10 auxiliary under feed rollers 55 which operate in suitable longitudinal slots cut through the under guide plates 40 above referred to, so as to present their peripheries beneath the plane of feed of sheets. The shaft 50 is provided at one end with a gear wheel .52 which meshes with an intermediate gear wheel 53- driven by gear wheel 54 keyed to one end of the under feed ,shaft 5. By these means the auxiliary feed rollers 55 are constantly driven in the same direction as the main under feed rollers 10 above referred to.

Each of the upper` guiding .and confining plates 45 has secured to it a block 60 in which is mounted a transverse pivot bolt 61. A rock arm 62 is journaled upon the bolt 61 and carries in its forward end a freely journaled friction wheel 63 which is supported in the same vertical plane as one of the auxiliary under feed wheels 55 above referred to. The-rock arm 62 i's engaged by an adjustable tension spring 64 (see Figs. 1 and 4) mounted upon the pivot bolt 61 in any suitable manner. The spring 64 is adjusted to give avery slight spring pressure to the wheel 63 against the auxiliary feed wheel 55. Angular finger 65projectsupwardly and rearwardly fi'om' the rock-arm 62 and a downwardly'bent arm 66 projects from the drop roller rock shaft 17 in the same'plane with the nger 65 with the result that when shaft 17 is rocked for lowering the main drop rollers 15 into engaging positiontthe engagement of arms 66 with ngers 65 will rock arms 62 for raising friction wheels 63 away from the auxiliary feed wheels 55. When the main drop rollers are` raised out of action the springs 64 will return the friction wheels 63 to their engagement with the under lfriction wheels 55.

70 is a rock shaft extending transversely of the machine and supported in bracket arms 71 extending up from the tie bolt 42. This rock shaft 70 has secured to it the upwardly projecting gage fingers 7 5 which are ada ted t'o project vertically across the path of s eets in front of the parallel portions of l the guide plates 40 and 45. The rock shaft 70 has secured to it a short rock arm 76 which is pivotally connected at 7 7 to a connecting rod or link 78 pivoted at 79 to a rearwardly presented rock arm 80 adjustably mounted upon the main drop roller rock shaft 17. The result of this construction Will be that when the drop rollers 15 are lowered into action for delivering asheet from the pile the sheet straightening gages 75 will lloe moved out of the path of sheets so as to permit the sheets to move freely from the ina-- chine, and when the drop rollers are raised out of action the sheet straightenin gages `will be presented across the path o sheets.

The two positions o f the straightening gages are shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawings.

85 is' the usual tape roller of the sheet conveyer frame which is adapted to receive successive sheets from'the feeding machine and convey them to the gages ofthe printing press, foldmg machine or other machine designed to operate upon the sheets.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings I have shown a slight modification of my improved sheet straightening mechanism. In this form of the mechanism I employ two short endless belts 90 which pass around main and auxiliary under feed wheels 10 and 55 mounted as above described with reference to the preferred lform of the mechanism excepting that the bracket arms 51 are adjusted to present the auxiliary under feed wheels 55- a little farther forward than in the preferred form. The drop roller delivery mechanism is the same as in the preferred form. Additional rods 100 are mounted in depending bracketarms 46 and supported in an 'approximately horizontal plane. Blocks 60 are mounted 'upon the rods 100 so as to be adjustible thereon longitudinally of the machine. n carry auxiliary upper feed wheels 63 which are journaled upon rock arms 62 pivotally mounted upon pins 61- in the same manner as in the preferred form of the invention. In this modiiied -form of the i invention, however;i each upper curved guide plate 45 is forme witha longitudinal slot extendind almost its entire length so as to permit the friction wheel '63 t o rest in eripheral contact with the frxctional 'feed These' adjustable blocks belt 90 `in .various positions of adjustment. In this modified form of the device the friction wheels 63 rest constantly in operative vices 32 are given a reciprocating motiony above the pile of sheets and that the drop roller delivery mechanism is timed to oper- .ate alternately with the feeding-off devices.

Thefeeding-oi ingers engage the top sheet of'a pile and move it forwardly above the constantly running underfeed wheels 10 and 55, the mainv drop rollers 15 being held in elevated position, and they auxiliary frictional feed wheels 63 being inI peripheral contact with and driven by the' auxiliary un-A derfeed Wheels 55. When this preliminary feeding-oil' stroke. takes 'place the sheet straightening gages? 5 are in operative position as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The

moment the leading edge of the sheet is enand are not intermittently raised gaged between the upper and lower frictional wheels of the auxiliary .feeding de-` vices, it will have an added forward impulse' imparted to it tofcai'ry a sheet into engagement with the straightening gages 75. If the sheet moving from the pilev hasits leading edge presented squarely at right angles to its direction of travel, then both the straightening gages' will be simultaneously engaged by the leadingedge of the sheet and both alixiliary feeding devices will operate idly upon the sheet without further change in its position until they are thrown out'of action. If, on the other hand, the leading edge of the sheet is not advancing squarely. one of the auxiliary feeding devices will continue to operate after the other has ceased to move the sheet, with the result that the -sheet will he squared by its engagement with the straightening gages. These auxiliary feeding devices act upon the sheet only momentarily since they are never called upon to move a sheet more than 11; inches, or just suiiicicntly to correct any inequality in the position of the sheet as it is forwarded from the pile by the feeding-od devices. Immediately following the straight? Y lening of. the Ysheet against the gegen-the drop roller delivery mechanism is broughtl into action and 'simultaneously thestraightening gages are moved'out of the pathof the sheet and the auxiliary feeding devices are thrown out of action, so'as to permit the sheet to be fed in its straightened coudition from the pile of the paper -feeder onto the sheet conveyer which carries the sheet squarely forward to the gages of the press or other machine. This operation is repeated for each sheet when it is fed from the pile.

The modified form -of apparatus shown in Fig. 5 accomplishes substantially the same result as the preferred form although in a slightly dierent manner. In this modified form the friction Wheels 63 always remain in active position but the main delivery'drop .rollers and straightening gages operate al.

ternately as in the preferred form. In the modified form the supporting blocks 60SL of the upper friction wheels 63 can be adjusted longitudinally of the machine to engage the leading edge of the sheet sooner or later in the feeding operation, depending upon the conditions of the pile and thevcharacter of the paper being operated upon, some condi tions requiring a greater straightening effect than others.

It will be observed that the upper `auxiliary frictional wheels 63 are pressed very lightly against the sheets'for feeding them forward. The frictional engagement of the auxiliary devices with the sheet is only sufiicient to move them in Contact with the straightening gages, but is not sufficient to buckle the sheets or injure their leading edge. The upper and lower guide plates effectively confine the sheets between the auxiliary frictional devices andthe straightening gages so as tofurther insure against ob- -I jectionable buckling or bending of the sheets. A

The great advantage resulting from my improved mechanism is due to the simplicity of the structure and the effectiveness of the arrangement, whereby the rapidity of operation of the automatic feeding machine for properly supplying sheets to the rapid rotary presses 1n use today is not interfered with, while at the same time the inaccuracies 1n the positron of the successlve sheets of a pile arecorrected without loss of time between the actions of the feeding off devices and the sheet delivery mechanism.

What I claim is:

l. In a'pape'r feeding machine, the combi-l nation of a support for a pile of sheets, feeding ofi'. devices operating above. the pile,

`sheet straightening gages arranged at the sheet straightening gages arranged at the delivery end of the machine transversely of the line of feed, friction rollers arranged to y receive the leading edge of sheets moved from the pile by said feeding off devices and feed the same forward until arrested and squared by said gages, suitable delivery mechanism, and means includin said delivery mechanism for moving said friction rollers into and out of operative osition.

3. In a paper feedingmachme, the combination of a support for a pile of sheets, feed-v ing 0H devices operating above said support, sheet straightening gages arranged at the delivery end ofthe machine transversely of the 'line of feed, auxiliary feeding devices arranged to receive the leading edge of sheets moved from the pile by said feeding off devices and feed the same forward untilV arrested-andsquared by said gages, suitable guidesconining the sheet' to the action of said auxiliary feeding devices, suitable main delivery mechanism and means including said main delivery mechanism for moving said auxiliary feeding devices into and out of operative position.

4. lIn a paper feeding machine, the combination of a front gage, an auxiliary feed rollV disposed to feed a sheet against said i gage, a rock shaft provided with an arm adapted to raise the auxiliary feed roll out of operative position, and a main feed roll moved into and out of operative position, by said rock shaft. y

5,. In a paper feeding machine, the combination of laterally spaced front gages, correspondingly spaced auxiliary drop rollers adajfpted to act independently of each other to orce a sheet into alinement against said gages, main drop rollers adapted to deliver a sheet past said gages, and means for intermittently raising and lowering both sets of said drop rollers, said means being adapted to hold the main drop rollers elevated when said auxiliary drop rollers are operative and vice versa.

6. In a feeding machine of the character described, the combination of laterally spaced front gages, laterally spaced auxiliary drop rollers for setting a sheet against said front gages, main drop rollers for delivering a sheet past said gages, and means operated wit-hvsaid main drop rollers for raising said auxiliary drop rollers when the main drop rollers are down.

7. In a .feeding machine of the character described, the combination of laterally spaced frontgages, auxiliary drop rollers adapted to feed a sheet to aline with said gages, rock arms e carrying said rollers, maindrop 'rollers for delivering a sheet past -said gages,ra` rock shaft therefor, and fin-x gers rigid on said rock shaft and adapted to raise and lower said auxiliary drop rollers alternately with lthemain drop rollers. Y

8. In a feeding machine of the characterl arm mounted onsaid rock shaft and adapted described, a rock shaft, a main drop roller to engage saidpr' jectionwhen said'main carrled thereby, a front gage, an auxiliary drop lroller descends.

drop roller for feeding a sheet up' to said v TALBOT C. DEXTER. 5 front gage, an oscillatablelever for carry- Witnesses:

ing said auxiliary drop roller, said lever be- IRVLN H. DEXTER,

ing provided with a. projection, and a lever ALEX. H. MERRITT. 

